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This Mother's Day weekend, Apple chief Steve Jobs is being far from motherly or nurturing to ticked off Apple fans inquiring by email as to why the iPad costs so much in the UK. As the writer in the above email states, the UK's most basic iPad option starts at a price $150 higher than the comparable US version. What were sales departments thinking, the chap asked, when they priced the iPads? "It's like leeching blood out of our body..."

Steve Jobs, however, in quite snippy fashion, simply wasn't feeling much empathy for the disgruntled Brit. And he responded with an answer that provided every bit as much admonishment as it did information. "Please educate yourself," Jobs began in reply - according to the email displayed by our friends at 9to5mac. "UK prices must by law include VAT, which is around 18%. US prices do not include tax."

At least he said "please," right?

Apple has been adamant about getting the word out that the high prices in the UK are not the result of Apple simply marking up the goods. Instead, the higher costs come as a consequence of notably higher taxes and shipping costs, including VAT. All told, the price of an iPad in the UK does not represent a simplistic conversion of the iPad's price in US dollars to its cost in euros.

On Friday, Apple announced that the iPad will officially be available in international markets beginning May 28th. The first countries to get the tablet include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and Britain. Pre-orders for iPad's international release begin tomorrow, May 10th.
Image via 9to5Mac